Jonny Bairstow, restored to the England side but shorn of his keeping gloves, celebrated his return with a sparkling 110 to help them to 312 for seven on the opening day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Friday.
India are yet to win a Test in Birmingham in nearly six decades -- boasting of a dismal record of seven losses and one draw in eight attempts.
Bairstow will be a key player for the England in the World Cup starting May 30 in the United Kingdom.
Bairstow's unbeaten 114 was his second hundred of the match as England triumphed with two sessions to spare.
For the first time in a men's Test, England went into the match with a lone fast bowler in Mark Wood, opting for a spin-heavy attack instead, which included debutant Tom Hartley.
With England white ball star batters Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler in indifferent form, could England summon a batter with excellent knowledge of local conditions?
The national selectors have rested Bairstow, Sam Curran, and Mark Wood for the first two Tests in India.
Jonny Bairstow fell five runs short of a maiden Test century on Saturday before South Africa took their lead in the match to 139 at the end of day three of the third and final Test against England at Lord's.
Defending champions England stormed their way to a crushing eight-wicket victory over the West Indies.
Markram, who had scored a century at the same venue against the same opposition two years ago, ensured the Orange Army, who turned up in large numbers, did not go home disappointed.
'James Anderson was unavailable for selection in the Test squad as he continues his rehabilitation from a calf injury,' the ECB said in a statement.
Images from the T20 World Cup Group B match between England and Namibia in Antigua on Saturday.
Jos Buttler will captain the team for the Caribbean tour, with Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone featuring in the ODI group from the showpiece event.
Recalled Jonny Bairstow says he's in 'best form'.
They made a fast start to their innings with Chris Gayle, dropped by Joe Root in the first over, thumping three huge sixes as the visitors reached 45 without loss after five overs.
England have included five uncapped players for their Twenty20 series against Australia, and Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Matthew Potts and Jamie Smith have been named for the One-Day Internationals, the country's cricket board said on Monday.
The Champions League Twenty20 suffered a blow on Tuesday when international players Dwayne Bravo and Jonny Bairstow were ruled out because of injuries.
England fast bowler Jofra Archer was ruled out of the Ashes series against Australia.
Thirteen-year-old India U-19 cricketer Vaibhav Suryavanshi from Bihar is the youngest among the lot at Rs 30 lakh base price.
Images from Day 5 of the second Test between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Tuesday.
Bumrah finished with figures of 6 for 45 -- his 10th five wicket haul in Test cricket -- while also becoming the fastest Indian pacer to take 150 Test wickets.
Substitute fielder Sameer Rizvi rushed to his right at deep square leg to complete a good running catch, coming around the square leg umpire.
Jonny Bairstow struck a sublime unbeaten 60 to lead England to a dominant nine-wicket victory over South Africa in the first Twenty20 international in Southampton on Wednesday.
England batsman Jonny Bairstow conceded that facing up to the twin threat from India's spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would continue to pose a big challenge to his side in the One-Day International series starting at Pune on January 15.
IMAGES from the World Cup match between Australia and England played in Ahmedabad on Saturday
As India faced off against Australia in their ICC Men's ODI World Cup opener at the M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, the game saw some early drama.
Joburg Super Kings and Pretoria Capitals claimed crucial victories over Durban's Super Giants and Sunrisers Eastern Cape respectively in the Betway SA20.
'It was really good fun out there, I absolutely loved every single minute of it.'
Punjab Kings batter Rilee Rossouw lauded the bowlers following their seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk on Thursday.
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow put England on course for a ground-breaking run chase against India despite Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance on day four of the rescheduled fifth Test, setting up a fitting series finale in Birmingham on Monday.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 3rd Test played between England and New Zealand at Headingley on Friday.
Having conceded a lead of 259, England were all out for 195 in the second session on day three of the contest.
The cricketer with most catches in T20 cricket is former West Indies cricketer Kieron Pollard with 362 catches to his name.
CSK can ill-afford to take Punjab Kings lightly, who are coming in to this match after chasing down a world record total of 262 against KKR.
England Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday named the playing eleven for the third Test match against India in Rajkot, with pacer Mark Wood replacing Shoaib Bashir in the playing squad.
Wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and fast bowler Mark Wood produced a rearguard counter-attack to drag England back into the second Test against New Zealand on Friday as the visitors ended the first day at Hagley Oval on 290 for eight.
England's highest successful run chase came in 2019 when they reached a 359-run target in an Ashes test against Australia on the back of Stokes's brilliant unbeaten century.
In the series, Kuldeep scored 97 valuable runs down the order and took 19 wickets at an average of 20.15.
Bairstow was named in England's 55-man training squad and England will pick a squad of around 30 men for the Test series against West Indies on Wednesday. That number will then be reduced to around 20 following the three-day warm-up match, beginning July 2.
The first game in the three match One Day International series between India and England at the Oval in London is underway.
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